By Jim Reece -

Amador County Supervisors last week approved a request by ACES Waste Service to switch transfer stations for the deposit of its Jackson garbage routes. The switch will allow ACES to take 40 tons of waste a week to a Pine Grove transfer station, instead of to the Buena Vista Landfill. Jason Craft of Amador Disposal Service Inc. said the loss of tonnage could cause a fee hike at his landfill, but the hike could mean out-of-county haulers would simply take their waste elsewhere. Supervisor Brian Oneto asked Craft if Amador Disposal also took its hauled waste to a different location, from El Dorado to Calaveras County, because it was more convenient. Craft acknowledged that was true. ACES owner Paul Molinelli Sr. said his company “was just trying to increase our cash flow,” with high fuel prices causing the need to make the hauling changes. The change would affect only waste picked up from customers in Jackson. A resident asked if the change would increase the number of trucks at the Pine Grove transfer station. Molinelli said it would increase trucks going out by 2 per week – that is, two 20-ton truck going out per week. He said it would have no additional trucks going into the station. The board passed the contract amendment with a 5-0 vote.

By Holly Boitano -

A new mural project will soon be under way in Sutter Creek. The canvas for the 130-foot “Walk to School” mural will be a cement wall that runs adjacent to the church on Spanish Street. Local artist and teacher Rand Huggett will orchestrate the project, which he said should take about two months to complete. Huggett and resident Mel Welsh presented the design at the Sutter Creek City Council meeting Monday night, to an enthusiastic audience. Huggett is well known for several mural projects throughout the community, and has been an art teacher at Amador High School for many years. Welsh helped to instate the safe routes to school program in Sutter Creek last year. Huggett said that some of his art students would help work on the mural, and he commented that projects like this are very rewarding for everyone involved -- teachers, students, and the community alike.

By Jennifer Wilson -

We’ve all heard the rumor: “Amador County is going to run out of water by 2030.” According the Amador Water Agency staff, it’s more than just a rumor and the agency is taking it seriously. In an effort to address these shortfalls now, the AWA has been looking at how they can maximize recycled water. At its September 11th meeting, the AWA Board of Directors listened to a presentation by the agency’s Manager of Engineering and Planning, Gene Mancebo, who posed the question, “How can we maximize water reclamation?” Over the last several months, the agency has been researching that question. The end result is a Proposed Regional Reclaimed Water Distribution System that will call for the agency to partner with local cities in a joint water reclamation effort.

During his presentation, Mancebo said “there is not enough water today (to support future growth),” and noted upcoming projects like Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort. Currently, many areas of the county use treated, or drinking water for landscaping and agricultural uses. Mancebo noted that most of the county’s schools are using solely treated water to irrigate their ball fields. Additionally, agency staff pointed out that individual cities have, or are planning to build, individual wastewater treatment plants. AWA General Manager Jim Abercrombie cited the fact that, including a proposed wastewater treatment plant in Martell, there may end up being three water treatment plants within a 4-mile stretch, which he feels doesn’t make sense. The agency’s proposed plan focuses on maximizing the use of reclaimed, or recycled wastewater for landscaping, agricultural and industrial uses. They would do so by altering the county’s current water system in various areas, and proposing that the cities work together, instead of on separate projects. Board member Paul Scott said he liked “what you guys are bringing back to us. Building new treatment plants is costly…it is just overburdening to the ratepayers.” Board Chairman John Swift commended Mancebo and his staff and said he applauded the effort. The rest of the board was in general agreement, and unanimously directed staff to continue research and meet with individual cities on the proposed reclamation project.

By Jim Reece -

The Amador Measure M Campaign Committee selected Paul Molinelli Jr. as its chairman last week, and tabbed Amador County Planning Commissioner John Gonsalves at its co-chairman. Molinelli is a recent past president of the Amador Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Amador County Solid Waste Local Task Force. Members of the committee made the officer and core campaign committee selections at the group’s meeting Sept. 11 at the American Legion Hall in Martell. Joining Molinelli and Gonsalves, Bob Long was selected as committee treasurer and Holly Boitano was named as secretary. Core Campaign Committee members that were selected were Andrea Jones of Lockwood, Hal Gambel of Sutter Creek, Debbie Dunn of Upcountry and Lynette Lipp of Pine Grove. The Campaign Committee will also be looking to get someone from Ione and Jackson Valley area.

The committee last week reported that up next, it is now looking for campaign donations, putting together a mailer; gathering a coalition of organizations and individuals; formulating a campaign plan; and working on a regional representative, key messages and a calendar. Firefighters will be walking the streets to campaign and the committee said its big task will be getting the city of Ione to sign on. The biggest loss for the previous paid firefighter referendum item, Measure L, was in the city of Ione. 54 percent voted yes, 46 percent voted no. Ione plans to get paid fire personnel with or without Measure M.

Staff Report -

The Amador County Peace Officers' Association gave out its annual awards last week, selecting Tom Sage, Tracey Towner-Yep and Kevin Summers as its prize winners. Mark Estey in a news release announced the selections and congratulated Amador County District Attorney Investigator Tom Sage as Peace Officer of the Year for 2008. Amador County Recreation Agency Executive Director Tracey Towner-Yep was named Citizen of the Year. And Jackson Police Officer Kevin Summers was selected as the Public Safety Performer of the Year.

Towner-Yep said Amador County is a “great place to live and work, and it's a pleasure to serve this community.” She thanked her family, friends, staff, and board, for being such a magnificent support network. She said “Thank you also to the Amador County Peace Officers Association for deeming me worthy of this distinguished award. This is truly an honor!” Sage, an investigator for Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe, said he heard about his winning the award last Tuesday, after an interview at the office, when Riebe broke the news. Sage has been at the DA’s office since 1997. He said the award was a nice recognition and he thanked the Peace Officers Association for it. An awards dinner will be held Saturday, October 25th at the American Legion Hall in Martell.

By Jim Reece -

The group Amador Support, Transportation And Resource Services prepares for its fifth annual Camp Out For Cancer with its own little legacy. The group has a 4-year tally of 36,000 dollars that it raised for regional cancer research. That equates to 10 percent of the running total the last 4 years going to research, while the rest of the funds stay local. Executive Director Ginger Rolf said that STARS transports cancer patients to doctor’s appointments around the county and the region, and started its own walk-a-thon, the all-night Camp Out For Cancer five years ago. STARS had one cancer van at the time. Now they have four vans, purchased with the Camp Out funds. The other 10 percent goes to research at the Sutter Cancer Center, where Dr. Vincent Caggiano head research. The funds stay pretty local for research, Rolf said, because “patients from Amador County go for radiation and other things we don’t offer usually go to Sutter Cancer Center.” The hospital, at 2800 L Street in Sacramento, is part of the Sutter Hospital organization.

The STARS Camp Out For Cancer has 29 teams signed up, with 800 participants expected, Rolf said. The event will be held September 20th and 21st at the Argonaut High School football field, with teams walking around the Argonaut track, starting at 10 a.m. Saturday and ending at 9 a.m. Sunday. STARS has a Camp Out goal this year to raise 100,000 dollars. The event will have 7 bands and also a karaoke party. For information about the Camp Out For Cancer or to make contributions, call the STARS Jackson office at (209) 223-1246. Online, see www.AmadorSTARS.org.

By Jim Reece -

The Amador High School and Argonaut High School skiing and snowboarding teams will have teams this year. Volunteer Coach Scott Keith said the teams will again be raising funds to pay for the season, come winter. The teams will be on probation because of an incident involving alcohol at the state meet last season. Also, the entire team will not be allowed to go to the state tournament this season. Instead, only qualifying team competitors will be sent to state.

By Jim Reece -

The Award Winning Amador County State Fair Exhibit is on display at Prospect Motors in the Amador Auto Mall in Martell, through early October. Designer and builder of the photographic exhibit, Kam Merzlak said the display was “a great idea for county residents who didn't attend the State Fair to see how we represented the county.” The exhibit will be displayed until the next Amador County Chamber of Commerce mixer, 5 p.m. Wednesday, October 8th. Merzlak is owner and operator of Merzlak Signs in Jackson. Merzlak built the display with the help of Fiddletown chopper fabricator, Doug Wescott.

By Jim Reece -

Argonaut High School football opened its season Friday with a 41-6 home field win over Bear Creek High School of Stockton. The Mustangs take a 1-0 record in the early season Friday, playing at Golden Sierra High school in Garden Valley.

Amador High School football opened the season with a tough, 14-21 loss at home to the visiting Golden Sierra High School Grizzlies. The Thundering Herd next plays 1 p.m. Saturday at Hiram Johnson High School in Sacramento.

By Jim Reece -

The Amador County Service Employees International Union had an emergency vote this week and elected to have voluntary unpaid furloughs at the end of the year to avoid layoffs. SEIU Local 1021 Representative Mike Fouch said Amador County called an emergency meeting this week with union officials. “We were told by Amador County that if we did not do a voluntary furlough, they would be forced to have layoffs,” Fouch said. Terri Daly, County Chief Adminstrative Officer said she was not in favor of layoffs, but she said she needed personnel cuts. Her only option to do that, without talking to the unions, was with layoffs. “I cannot unilaterally employ furloughs,” Daly said. “It is ambiguous whether there is a provision for that in most of our labor contracts.” Instead, she offered furloughs to all county unions, all 500 county employees.

Fouch said SEIU members met Tuesday and “It was a pretty heavy vote for the furlough.” He said 75 percent of the county workforce would take the voluntary furlough somewhere between December 22nd and the first week of January, with seven workdays off of work, saving the county around 650,000 dollars. The majority of employees would be on furlough, but not safety personnel and some ineligible state mandated positions. Fouch said furloughs would prevent the layoff of 15 or 20 employees. He said the county called a meeting with the union and said it was needed to meet the budget. This came even after 24 people took the early retirement offered by the county, with some voluntary furloughs saving another 200,000 dollars. “It was definitely unexpected, when we had been told for months that what we had been doing to balance the budget was working,” Fouch said. SEIU represents about 340 Amador County employees. “Nobody’s happy to be in this type of situation when you think everything’s great and the holidays are just around the corner,” Fouch said. The union has another meeting to give the county the results of the workers’ vote. He said the state budget passage still stands ahead “Hypothetically, there could still be state layoffs,” he said.